At least 36 people have developed a rare, life-threatening blood disorder called thrombocytopenia after receiving one of two COVID-19 vaccines approved in the US.
One of them, Dr. Gregory Michael, a Miami midwife, died after thrombocytopenia caused his platelets to drop to near zero. He was only 56 and died of a brain haemorrhage just 16 days after receiving an injection from Pfizer.
And the doctors ordered Luz Legaspi, 72, not to leave her bed for more than a week, for fear that a bump, bruise, fall, or other minor injury could cause a similar bleeding and be fatal to her.
Thrombocytopenia has also been seen after other vaccines, and experts suspect the injection acts as a trigger in some way – they just don’t know why yet.
But so far, the platelet-suppressing condition seems extraordinarily rare – it affects only 36 people of the 43 million doses administered in the US – and scientists theorize that only a small fraction of the population may have a predisposition for vaccines to induce blood. disorder.
Of the 15 people enrolled in an upcoming study, only one had a recent history of low platelet counts, and there were no clear common traits predicting who might be the few to develop thrombocytopenia after vaccination.
But with the exception of Dr. Michael, everyone else so far has recovered after the treatment.
Dr. Gregory Michael, 56, died of a brain haemorrhage from thrombocytopenia 16 days after receiving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine (left). Luz Legaspi, 72, developed the rare blood disease a day after her first injection of the Moderna vaccine and had to be placed on complete bed rest to avoid a potentially fatal bleeding (right)
The US gives about 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccinations per day and only 36 people have developed thrombocytopenia
The vast majority of people who have received COVID-19 vaccines have done so without incident.
But between the start of the Dec. 14 rollout of the U.S. coronavirus vaccine and Jan. 31, 36 reports were made to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) monitoring system for immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) after vaccinations, according to the New York Times.
The database records incidents that doctors and nurses observe after people receive vaccinations, but it does not indicate whether vaccines were the cause of the reported problems, known as ‘side effects’.
No cases of thrombocytopenia were reported in the studies with Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.
However, as they are authorizations, cases have been linked to each vaccine.
Pfizer told DailyMail.com that it is investigating Dr. Michael, a midwife whose wife says he was in good health before his death in December.
“I think his death was 100 percent linked to the vaccine. There is no other explanation, ”she told DailyMail.com last month, holding back tears.
Dr. Michael received his first dose of Pfizer’s shot on December 18 and did not immediately respond to the shot.
But three days later, he noticed red spots all over his body.
The spots on his body were petechiae, warning signs of subcutaneous bleeding.
He went to Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. During his exam, Dr. Michael remained cheerful and energetic.
But blood tests showed his platelet count – disk-shaped cell fragments that form clots to prevent uncontrolled bleeding – was zero, his wife said.
Anything under 150,000 would qualify as thrombocytopenia, but Dr. Michael was pitiful.
Transfusions and other attempts to restore his platelets failed during his two weeks in the hospital, and Dr. Michael eventually died of a brain haemorrhage.
Luz Legaspi, 72, was healthy and all for vaccination in January when she got her first dose of Moderna.
But the next day, she woke up to find her legs and arms covered in petechiae and bleeding blisters in her mouth, according to the New York Times.
She was hospitalized in Elmhurst, Queens in New York City.
At the time, Legaspi’s platelet count was zero and she was ordered not to leave her bed to avoid falling or otherwise injuring herself. Even a normally harmless bruise can lead to bleeding if someone doesn’t have platelets to stop the bleeding.
In adults, thrombocytopenia can be caused by bone marrow disease, some cancer treatments, and alcoholism.
But some forms are also the result of an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy platelets instead of legitimate threats and pathogens. Sometimes thrombocytopenia develops after viral infections.
In these cases, it is usually treated with platelet transfusions, with steroids and immunoglobulins – a treatment designed to prevent the spleen from destroying platelets, such as in thrombocytopenia.
Legaspi received these treatments, but still did not improve 10 days after being hospitalized.
Michael’s wife Heidi Neckelman (left) said her husband’s death was “ due to a strong reaction ” to the vaccine. Pictured: Dr. Michael with his wife Heidi and daughter
“I don’t think she understands she’s like a ticking bomb,” her daughter, who did not disclose her name at the request of her employer, told the Times on Legaspi’s ninth day in the hospital.
‘I don’t use the term. I don’t want to tell her that. ‘
Remarkably, a leading expert on the rare condition got wind of Legaspi’s dire and stagnant condition and contacted her doctor in Elmhurst.
Dr. James Bussel, a pediatrician and expert in immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), which is most common in children, recommended a change of course, although it is not clear what specific treatment he recommended.
Within two days, Legaspi’s platelet count was over 70,000 and she was able to return home the next day, February 2.
Dr. Bussel and his colleague, Dr. Eun-Ju Lee, studied 15 cases of thrombocytopenia that developed after people received COVID-19 vaccines.
Their article is still under review for publication in a medical journal.
But he told the Times that there may be a link not just with COVID-19 vaccines, but vaccines in general, it’s just not clear exactly what.
Letting it happen after a vaccine is well known and has been seen with many other vaccines. We don’t know why it happens, ”said Dr. Bussel.
‘I think it is possible that there is an association.
“I assume there is something that predisposes the people who developed thrombocytopenia, given the small percentage of recipients they are.”
Dr. Bussel, and even Luz Legaspi and her daughter, say people should still get the COVID-19 vaccine, and for most, thrombocytopenia won’t be a problem.
Nevertheless, Dr. Bussel, his colleagues, and both Pfizer and Moderna are finding out who could have this life-threatening reaction so they can discourage these people from getting the vaccine, as US officials have done for people with a history of anaphylactic reactions. on all ingredients in the shots.
